It was probably completely unprofessional for her, a late-thirties Professor, to be casually sitting and chatting with one of her first-years about pickle cravings. Wearing pyjamas and fuzzy slippers, no less, with her cropped hair sticking out at odd angles and drawing further attention to her status as ‘newly rolled off the bed’. (Because who had time to deal with bedhead in the mornings? Not Estelle, and especially not Pregnant Estelle.)

However, while Not Pregnant Estelle cared a lot more about maintaining a brusque reputation among her students, Current Estelle oscillated between caring about that and caring about more important things, like comfy shoes and big meals and every opportunity she saw to host even more fun detentions than usual. She also currently recognized the overall lack of professionality in an all-day breakfast-in-PJs event. Future Estelle might be a little peeved at herself for not showing up in her usual attire and rougher attitude, but Current Estelle was fine with it. It was also nice to have wound up with Remington, being one of her most engaged students and therefore not someone likely to irritate her.

She nodded at the girl’s description of her mother’s pickle preferences. “Sounds about right. Sour pickles and sweet fruit is a good mix. But personally,” Estelle added, letting her in on the not-so-secret secret with a slight smile, “I’m most fond of pickles and Oreos. I ate so many during my first pregnancy that, this time around, my husband started stocking up our kitchen even before we made the announcement.” As sappy and cliché as it was, Liam was the sweetest man she knew, and sometimes she couldn’t fathom his patience with her in this state. “He normally does all the cooking. Fancy meals, too. But when I'm in this state, well, we all eat a bit more simply,” she chuckled. “They say that a family gets pregnant together, and it’s certainly true.”

Even though she hadn’t finished her first year yet, Remington knew some of the classes she’d continue with after her third year. She had no idea what she wanted to do with her life – understandable,... more